The goals of the Respiratory Diseases Research Core are to: 1) facilitate epidemiological research and causation of respiratory diseases among the population of northern Manhattan; 2) serve as a resource for interdisciplinary studies which utilize the diverse expertise of Core members to study the mechanisms underlying respiratory diseases; and 3) facilitate cross fertilization of ideas and approaches to study respiratory diseases. There are five members of the Core. These individuals include the Core Director, Dr. Robert Mellins; Drs. Paul Rothman and Jean Ford who both direct pulmonary divisions at Columbia and Harlem Hospitals; and Drs. Kinney and Evans both of whom are pulmonary epidemiologists. In aggregate, these individuals bring expertise in pulmonary epidemiology, asthma education and intervention, and pulmonary immunology. This core has proposed to interact with the Exposure Assessment Core and the Epidemiology Data Management and Biostatistics Core. The accomplishments of this core include a few collaborative publications between Drs. Evans and Mellins. These publications focus on the care and management of asthma in children. The grant support of each of the investigators is listed in detail. Dr. Patrick Kinney is funded to investigate the effect of ozone and environmental tobacco smoke on the progression of airflow obstruction. Dr. Robert Mellins has developed a clinical network to assess whether training and education can alter the expression of asthma in children. Dr. David Evans has R01 funding to study the factors (including exposure to allergens and irritants) that predispose children to present to the emergency room with an asthma attack. Dr. Paul Rothman has funding to study the immunology of asthma. Dr. Jean Ford has R01 funding and funding from the Asthma Clinical Research Network to evaluate the factors that predispose adults to use the emergency room for asthma exacerbations. Future plans are not detailed in this proposal.